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License
covers
could
cancel
out
red-light
cameras

The
courtroom
is
not
the
only
place
motorists
can
try
to
beat
Wilmington's
red-light
cameras.

They
also
can
go
to
the
Internet,
where
companies
sell
a
spray
and
plastic
covers
designed
to
prevent
the
cameras
from
clearly
capturing
the
letters
and
numbers
on
license
plates
as
drivers
zip
through
red
lights.

City
and
state
officials
said
the
products
could
become
an
effective
counter
to
the
high-tech
cameras.
There
is
no
city
law
that
prohibits
their
use,
and
there
is
nothing
on
the
state
books
to
ban
them,
either.

That
is
good
news
to
John
Brown,
a
76-year-old
Wilmington
resident
who
recently
lost
his
appeal
of
a
$75
ticket
issued
after
one
of
the
cameras
caught
him.
Brown
said
he
thinks
the
city
installed
the
devices
simply
to
make
money.

He
said
he
was
unaware
of
the
new
products,
but
"they
sound
great."

There
are
10
cameras
in
Wilmington
and
10
more
will
be
installed
soon.
Twenty
additional
cameras
will
be
installed
across
Delaware
next
year,
said
Albert
Guckes,
aide
to
state
Transportation
Secretary
Nathan
Hayward
III.

More
than
40,000
people
in
Wilmington
have
been
ticketed
by
the
cameras
in
18
months.
If
motorists
speed
to
buy
the
spray
and
plate
covers,
city
officials
said,
they
will
floor
it
to
City
Hall
to
outlaw
the
products.

Councilman
Gerald
L.
Brady
said
officials
from
Affiliated
Computer
Services
Inc.,
the
company
that
operates
the
cameras
for
the
city,
have
told
him
that
the
products
could
pose
a
problem.

"It's
something
that
we
are
tracking,"
he
said.
"I
would
introduce
a
bill
to
ban
anything
that
would
obscure
the
camera's
view
and
impede
the
judicial
process."

Wilmington
Communications
Director
John
Rago
said
there
is
no
evidence
that
any
photographs
have
been
blurred
by
motorists
who
have
used
the
products.
Joe
Scott,
owner
of
Phantom
Plate,
said
purchases
by
Delawareans
from
the
Harrisburg,
Pa.,
company's
Web
site
have
been
brisk,
but
he
would
not
provide
sales
figures.

The
cameras
are
connected
to
underground
sensors
at
the
stop
lights
of
the
intersections.
The
sensor
activates
when
a
vehicle
approaches
at
a
high
rate
of
speed
when
the
light
is
red.
Pictures
of
the
vehicle
are
taken
before
it
goes
through
the
intersection
and
after
it
goes
through
the
red
light.

Phantom
Plate's
technology
is
simpler,
Scott
said.
The
$19.99
Photo
Blocker
spray
is
a
high-gloss
material
that
makes
a
glare
when
light
hits
it,
blocking
the
plate's
tag
numbers
in
the
photograph.
The
$25
and
$26.99
plate
covers
have
magnifying
lenses
that
send
light
away
from
the
plates
and
the
cameras,
which
blurs
the
pictures.
The
plates
remain
visible
to
the
naked
eye,
said
Scott,
who
started
his
company
six
years
ago.

"People
are
sick
and
tired
of
these
cameras,"
he
said.
"But
we
don't
condone
anybody
running
red
lights.
It's
like
Porsche,
which
makes
a
car
to
go
200
mph
but
is
not
responsible
for
people
driving
that
fast."

Jeff
Agnew,
spokesman
for
the
National
Campaign
to
Stop
Red
Light
Running,
an
advocacy
group
that
gets
money
from
companies
that
make
and
operate
red-light
camera
equipment,
said
the
products
hurt
public
safety.

"We
think
this
can
undermine
the
deterrent
effect
of
these
life-saving
technologies,"
he
said.

Wilmington,
which
splits
part
of
the
proceeds
from
the
tickets
with
Affiliated
Computer
Services,
made
$522,000
in
the
program's
first
year.
But
Rago
said
the
cameras'
primary
mission
is
to
save
lives,
and
he
thinks
they
are
working.
The
cameras,
which
were
placed
at
the
most
dangerous
intersections
in
the
city,
capture
an
average
60
percent
fewer
violators
now
than
when
the
program
began.

Affiliated
Computer
Services
is
competing
to
run
the
20
cameras
outside
Wilmington.
Scott
Kidner,
a
lobbyist
for
the
company
in
Dover,
said
Delaware's
motorists
will
determine
whether
city
and
state
laws
would
be
needed
to
ban
the
products.

"It's
a
little
too
early
to
tell,"
he
said.
"If
we
see
an
explosion
of
these
products
and
a
problem
with
prosecuting
people
pops
up,
I
can
foresee
a
legislative
fix."

Whitney
Hoffman
of
Bear
was
ticketed
twice
in
Wilmington,
but
both
cases
were
thrown
out
because
of
administrative
problems
in
the
program's
first
months.
She
said
an
officer
would
not
have
cited
her
for
running
the
lights
by
one-tenth
of
a
second,
which
is
what
the
cameras
did.
But
she
said
she
would
not
purchase
the
new
products.

"This
should
be
about
justice
and
fair
play,"
she
said.
"I
don't
think
the
cameras
represent
that,
but
I
don't
feel
the
need
to
buy
those
things.
I'm
just
extra
careful
where
I
know
the
cameras
are."